Any New Yorker can tell you that Occupy Wall Street was a force to be reckoned with in the fall of 2011.

I witnessed it first hand on 30 October 2011, the day after the largest early snow storm in New York City history. Undeterred by the conditions, the Occupiers forced re-routing of traffic as they fought for their cause. The taxi driver could only get me so close to my friend's house on 20 Exchange Place; I had to walk through a back alley to reach my destination.

Two weeks later, the New York City Police Department, on orders from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, evicted the protesters from Zuccotti Park. The Occupiers said they were undeterred and the public was seemingly behind them.

A majority of New York City voters disapproved of Bloomberg's handling of the Occupy Wall Street protests, while a majority approved not only of the views of the protesters, but also of the way the protests were being conducted. You can't be faulted if you believed that the Occupy Wall Street forces would be back in earnest. But you have mostly been wrong.

While it is difficult to gauge exactly how many protesters are still "fighting the good fight", most analysts would agree that Occupy Wall Street's numbers are down significantly from last fall. With the exception of May Day, when police managed the protests with ease, protesters have not had the presence to cause even minor disruption in New York City.

More significantly, perhaps, the public's backing of Occupy has taken a hit. Nationally, most pollsters have not even bothered to survey Americans on their views of Occupy since the end of the Zuccotti Park sit-in. The only pollster who has reasonably consistently asked about Occupy has seen a decline in its support. The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that the percentage of Americans who consider themselves a "supporter" of the Occupy movement has dropped by half since November.

Graph: Harry Enten/guardiannews.com guardian.co.uk

Only 16% of Americans in April said they were supporters, off from a high of 29% in early November. The question (about support) naturally gives lower registration compared to asking if respondents merely view the movement "favorably", but by comparing from sample-to-sample, we can visualize the demoralising picture for Occupy supporters.

You might assume that people in the home state of the city where the protests captured the world's attention might paint a different portrait. Interest in the protests in New York City is low enough that no pollster has even asked an Occupy-related question on a New York City-specific survey in the last few months. When we examine the Siena Research Institute's statewide crosstabs and break down the results by region, we do get a large enough sample size, about 300, to make a judgement on how city residents view the protests.

Graph: Harry Enten/guardiannews.com guardian.co.uk

It turns out that support for Occupy in New York City is also way down since October and November. Favorable perceptions of Occupy protesters have fallen each survey, registering a steady decline. For the first time, in May 2012, less than a majority (49%) of New Yorkers had a favorable opinion of the protests.

Bloomberg's overall approval rating has remained in the mid 40s to mid 50s since July 2011. During the height of Occupy, Bloomberg's approval was 47%. After his closing Occupy down, his approval was 49%; Bloomberg's approval right now is 49%. New Yorkers might have been on the side of Occupy, but their feelings were not strong enough to influence their opinion of the mayor.

Perhaps the most telling statistic comes from the city of Oakland. Oakland has been home some of the more militant protests, which have never really damped down. But 34% of Oakland-San Francisco area residents support Occupy Wall Street, while 54% opposed it in a May 2012, according to a SurveyUSA poll. An astonishing 24% of residents who had once supported the protests now oppose Occupy. And unlike in New York City, more residents, 32%, believe the police have not been harsh enough, against 24% who believe the police have been too harsh.

Some pundits had forecast that the Occupy Wall Street protests might have been a big story in the 2012 campaign, much as the Tea Party movement was in the 2010 midterms. The current numbers of protesters and, more importantly, the percentage of the public that supports them suggest that it won't be. Given Occupy's ratings now, if it does make news in the 2012 campaign, then it probably won't bode well for those who support it.